Breaking News: NO VOTE TODAY on the AHCA

March 23, 2017

Breaking News: NO VOTE TODAY

The House vote on whether to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) has been postponed. The House bill proposes to cut 25% of Medicaid’s budget, eliminate the guarantee that Medicaid will provide the health and supportive services (including mental health and substance use disorder services) that people need, and kick 14 million Americans off of Medicaid.

We can stop this now! Please contact your Representative in the House and tell them to vote no on the American Health Care Act.

Tell them: “As a constituent and a [person with a disability/parent of a child with a disability/supporter of people with disabilities], I oppose the passage of the American Health Care Act and its cuts to Medicaid.”

Message: Vote no on the American Health Care Act!

Talking Points:

Medicaid provides critically needed services for people with mental illness and other disabilities, including healthcare services in the community for people with serious mental illness, employment services, services that help people stay housed, and services that help students learn in school. Medicaid matters!

The American Health Care Act changes the way that the federal government funds Medicaid-setting a cap on federal funding instead of paying states based on the actual costs of healthcare. This change cuts 25% (or $880 billion) of Medicaid funding and uses that money to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

The American Health Care Act also repeals the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, which has enabled millions of people with behavioral health conditions to gain health insurance, including coverage of mental health and substance use disorder services. If the expansion is repealed, those millions will lose their insurance.

The American Health Care Act will also allow states to implement unnecessary and administratively complicated work requirements for people on Medicaid-ignoring substantial evidence that having access to Medicaid is what helps people with disabilities get back to work and losing Medicaid will put many at risk of losing their jobs. States would also be allowed to place Medicaid funds into a block grant, thus making the cuts to Medicaid even greater – and more dangerous for people with disabilities.